*Let me preface this post by saying that I love and respect my body.........no matter what size!*
Today I have the luxury of both of my kids napping at the same time....doesn't always work out that way, as Garrett has mostly dropped his nap. So I felt ambitious enough to do my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred dvd. But not before stepping on the scale..........yikes! I knew all that ice cream I ate over the weekend would come back to bite me in my (not insubstantial) ass.......158 lbs! No lie. I didn't know you could even put on 3 lbs having a bowl of ice cream 2 nights in a row!
In the past few months the hubs and I have cut out most sugar, save a small amount of honey in the morning oatmeal/tea, trips to the in-laws (where sweet things are unavoidable), and the once a month ice cream treat(which I'm now recovering from). Healthy living is the major reason for the switch, although after being pregnant or nursing for almost 4 years, having a body that resembles the one I had pre-kiddos is a huge motivator for me.
For those of you who've known me since my teen years, you'd know that at the end of high school, I weighed WAY more than my present day fat weight of 158. In fact, around the time I graduated, I was about 190lbs and a size 16. Today I'm a size 10/12. After HS, I moved to the lovely hippy town of Ashland, became a bit more health conscious, and spent the next few years eating organic and walking about 50lbs of chub off.
Fast forward to now: I've had 2 kids, both breastfed, which La Leche League will tell you makes you lose weight faster. What they don't tell you is that you'll drop a lot of weight fast, but your body will hold onto a little chunk so as not to jeopardize your precious milk supply (this way, if you don't eat enough, baby will still get what they need). My youngest is now 19 months old, and after the sugar cut, I dropped 15lbs fast without doing much. Now it's time to step it up a notch.......hence the Jillian Michaels.
My goal for myself is this: To be able to work out for 60 minutes without feeling like I'm going to die, to tone up my arms/abs, and to feel fit and healthy. I'm not going to put a number on how much I want to lose (I'd rather be a toned, healthy size 10 than a thin-but-flabby-size 6), but I'd also like to lose a few inches overall and not break into a cold sweat at the idea of a bathing suit without board shorts over it.
Why, might you ask, am I telling you all this? I'll tell you why............ACCOUNTABILITY! I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to fail publicly. I figure, the more people who know about my shape-up goal, the better. In fact, if you're still reading this, feel free to ask me if I've worked out today (actually, ask me tomorrow....I just did Jillian!). Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to stand up on my still-shaky legs, drink about a liter of water, and go shower......later.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Facing the Book............
Those of you who know me well know that Facebook is my happy place. A place where I can socialize with people while I'm chained by the boob to a sleeping baby doing nothing. Somewhere I can engage in a little adult conversation when I'm stuck at home with people who don't only talk about their bodily functions, diggers, Bob the Builder, the playground, and what they want to eat.
Now that the elections are over and with the holidays right around the corner, it makes me realize something about social networking sites and having a wide range of "friends"...............there is a wide range of what is/isn't appropriate to post about on a social networking website.
I was thinking about this last night when a friend (both in real life and on Facebook) asked this (on Facebook): "No one ever comments on posts involving REAL issues. Gotta talk about YOU, or what I had for dinner to get a response. Simply a reflection of what our society has become. Unfortunately..."
Now, I have a lot of pretty controversial opinions on a lot of things. Politically, I'm far enough left to be uncomfortable for a lot of folks, I have definitely made parenting choices that are "out there" by normal mainstream standards (cloth diapering, co-sleeping, birthing out of hospital, non-circumcising, just to name a few). I think it should be okay for gay people to be married (and that it's not a sin or morally wrong to be gay in the first place), legal to smoke pot if you want to, and that it's not okay to mess with the right to bear arms. Religion.......I'm not even going to go there, but I'm sure everyone would find some aspect of what I think surprising (from the holiest Christian to the most unbelieving Athiest).
The issue I have with sharing personal/political/religious beliefs on a social networking site is that I don't like to offend anyone. I have a wide range of contacts that range from high school acquaintances to close personal friends. Old work bosses, my in-laws, exes, family........all on there, and all know me in a different way than everyone else. Do I really want a professional reference to know what I think about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G? Does that mom I met 3 weeks ago in playgroup really want to hear that the hospital birth story she described to me is basically my worst nightmare and that I had my babies with midwives at a birth center or at home? Do I want my very Christian relatives to know that tonight I'll be imbibing half a bottle of 3 Buck Chuck Merlot and watching a whole season of Sex And The City while I fold my laundry?
Actually, those are all things I would post on Facebook. Maybe those are bad examples. But I've offended people. I've literally gotten a personal message for something I've posted that somebody was bothered enough by to personal message me. I'm not going to describe the incident in detail, but I'll just say that I didn't think I was being rude, offensive, or trashing anyone's personal beliefs/decisions (just stating my opinion on what I thought was a non-out-there topic). I'm kind of live-and-let-live when it comes to those kind of things. You do what you need to do, and I'll do what I need to do. If I do X, I'm not saying it's wrong to do Y.
I would like to say to anyone that reads this (all 3 of you), that everyone I'm friends with on a site like Facebook is special to me in some way........seriously. Each one has a unique relationship to me that means something. I literally don't friend people who I don't remember fondly in some way, or who I don't think serves a unique purpose in my life/social circle, and yes, the few "car accident" people (y'know, you can't look, but you can't look away?). Is it bad to tone things down so as not to offend people, or to choose not to share personal beliefs on a more public forum?
I must admit, though, it was funny for me to log into Facebook yesterday......Veteran's Day, just in case you didn't have work/school off, ever serve in the military, or have been living under a rock your whole life. So many people posting the same exact thing, and I highly suspect most of them don't actually give a sh** about veterans. But, as another real life (and yes, Facebook) friend says, "It's soooo easy to cut and paste!" Also kind of weird to log in on Easter and see "JESUS HAS RISEN" on 10 people's news feeds.
To wrap this up (I can hear Owen about to wake up), if you like to post about personal things and it's important to you, cool. It's good to have things to care about. I may judge in my mind, but I don't take it too personally or lose sleep over it. If I post on a topic you find offensive, you can be assured I didn't do it to piss you off. Can't we all just put on our big girl panties and get along? Love ya!
Now that the elections are over and with the holidays right around the corner, it makes me realize something about social networking sites and having a wide range of "friends"...............there is a wide range of what is/isn't appropriate to post about on a social networking website.
I was thinking about this last night when a friend (both in real life and on Facebook) asked this (on Facebook): "No one ever comments on posts involving REAL issues. Gotta talk about YOU, or what I had for dinner to get a response. Simply a reflection of what our society has become. Unfortunately..."
Now, I have a lot of pretty controversial opinions on a lot of things. Politically, I'm far enough left to be uncomfortable for a lot of folks, I have definitely made parenting choices that are "out there" by normal mainstream standards (cloth diapering, co-sleeping, birthing out of hospital, non-circumcising, just to name a few). I think it should be okay for gay people to be married (and that it's not a sin or morally wrong to be gay in the first place), legal to smoke pot if you want to, and that it's not okay to mess with the right to bear arms. Religion.......I'm not even going to go there, but I'm sure everyone would find some aspect of what I think surprising (from the holiest Christian to the most unbelieving Athiest).
The issue I have with sharing personal/political/religious beliefs on a social networking site is that I don't like to offend anyone. I have a wide range of contacts that range from high school acquaintances to close personal friends. Old work bosses, my in-laws, exes, family........all on there, and all know me in a different way than everyone else. Do I really want a professional reference to know what I think about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G? Does that mom I met 3 weeks ago in playgroup really want to hear that the hospital birth story she described to me is basically my worst nightmare and that I had my babies with midwives at a birth center or at home? Do I want my very Christian relatives to know that tonight I'll be imbibing half a bottle of 3 Buck Chuck Merlot and watching a whole season of Sex And The City while I fold my laundry?
Actually, those are all things I would post on Facebook. Maybe those are bad examples. But I've offended people. I've literally gotten a personal message for something I've posted that somebody was bothered enough by to personal message me. I'm not going to describe the incident in detail, but I'll just say that I didn't think I was being rude, offensive, or trashing anyone's personal beliefs/decisions (just stating my opinion on what I thought was a non-out-there topic). I'm kind of live-and-let-live when it comes to those kind of things. You do what you need to do, and I'll do what I need to do. If I do X, I'm not saying it's wrong to do Y.
I would like to say to anyone that reads this (all 3 of you), that everyone I'm friends with on a site like Facebook is special to me in some way........seriously. Each one has a unique relationship to me that means something. I literally don't friend people who I don't remember fondly in some way, or who I don't think serves a unique purpose in my life/social circle, and yes, the few "car accident" people (y'know, you can't look, but you can't look away?). Is it bad to tone things down so as not to offend people, or to choose not to share personal beliefs on a more public forum?
I must admit, though, it was funny for me to log into Facebook yesterday......Veteran's Day, just in case you didn't have work/school off, ever serve in the military, or have been living under a rock your whole life. So many people posting the same exact thing, and I highly suspect most of them don't actually give a sh** about veterans. But, as another real life (and yes, Facebook) friend says, "It's soooo easy to cut and paste!" Also kind of weird to log in on Easter and see "JESUS HAS RISEN" on 10 people's news feeds.
To wrap this up (I can hear Owen about to wake up), if you like to post about personal things and it's important to you, cool. It's good to have things to care about. I may judge in my mind, but I don't take it too personally or lose sleep over it. If I post on a topic you find offensive, you can be assured I didn't do it to piss you off. Can't we all just put on our big girl panties and get along? Love ya!
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